This Day in Pop Culture for June 21

1948: The First Long-Planning Record Spins

On this day in 1948, Columbia Records introduced the Long Playing “microgroove” LP record format which rotated at 33⅓ revolutions per minute. The album? A re-issue of The Voice of Frank Sinatra which had been released two years earlier as a four 78 RPM record set. Although the standard size of the LP became 12 inches, the first came out at a size of 10 inches. The majority of the first LPs were of classical music given their longer pieces of music. The success of Columbia Records prompted Capitol Records to release their own LPs in 1949 and RCA Victor in 1950.